Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Got home yesterday after what looks a hell of a lot like 3 months of straight touring. Feels weird being back home, but it ain't all that bad. It'll be cool to just chill on my own for a while and coming back to a snow covered and icy cold Belgium does have its charms.

Australia was the last tour we did in 2009 and I'm pretty sure I'll forever remember Australia as the coolest place I've ever been too. I don't know how to explain this exactly... If you've been there, then you know because most people I've met who have been there have all wanted to just stay there. Australia seemed to be the perfect mishmash of English, European and American influences, with a vibe that is all their own, plus a ton of amazing beaches, the ocean, overwhelming landscapes and cool cities. Looking across the ocean is like looking at the end of the world. I couldn't help but imagine that at the horizon the world just stopped, as if the earth was flat. We toured with an awesome band called Blkout, who we'd met only once, when their tour and ours joined up for a show in Berlin last summer. Dudes turned out be cool as hell and they are a great band to watch too. They have a record called "Total Depravity" out on Resist Records, if you dig post "Age Of Quarrell" Cro-Mags, The Icemen and let's say, True Blue then chances are you'll dig them. Other Australian highlights included cuddling with koalas, swimming rockpools, jumping off shit, picking up a pair of Alifes in the sales, having Marty, Josh and Jimmy take care of us and wandering around Melbourne in the morning, scoring breakfast and a bunch of second hand books.

The month of October seems like ancient history already, but that was when we toured the States. As usual it was a tour that had its ups and downs and as usual it was all around awesome experience. We got to play with a bunch of great bands (Bracewar, Bitter End, Ceremony, Trapped Under Ice, etc.) and we got to meet and play for about a week with Chicago's hardest, Harm's Way. For some reason I'd never seen this band live or met any of the dudes in the band, but turns out Harm's Way are some of the coolest dudes I've met in quite a while. Their LP "Reality Approaches" is cool but live they really shred hard. A lethal force if you will. When I get back into blogging more than I have been you can expect more on this band. A lot of shoe/clothes/record shopping was done on this tour, I can't seem to help it... So much good shit out there in the States. And that dollar is still so low too, it's like someone's forcing my hand.

November was spent touring throughout Europe with our friends in Iron Age. This was one of the best tours we have ever done, in terms of turnouts, being able to sell the new album and playing a lot of cool shows. Lots of fun, lots of riffing and lots of weed. Needless to say that seeing Iron Age every night was quite the trip. I got the impression that they go over some people's heads sometimes, which is a damn shame because I think they've never been this good and this tight live. They have the songs to back it all up too. I figure that right now, they are the band they have always aspired to be. "The Sleeping Eye" might just be my favourite heavy (or hardcore related) release of 2009. If you haven't yet, pick it up. The tour ended in Ghent, our first hometown show since early 2008 and it also served as the official record release. Despite me stressing out it all went real well and the show was a success. Perfect way to end a great tour.

Thinking of "The Sleeping Eye" brings me to the much feared end of the year lists. I'll take a shot at an Album Top 10 or Top 20 in the near future, I'm trying to figure it all out in my head first. I know my man Klaas is planning on doing a whole bunch of them on his blog (www.complex-man.com) so check that out. Klaas dove headfirst into blogging, bringing quality and quantity. Definitely one of my favourite blogs going right now.

Since I last posted here, that Blakroc album has come out and I've only gotten round to listening to it 4/5 times but I'm loving it. Definitely delivers. More on that and other records soon, I've been buying a lot of vinyl in the last couple of months. It feels good. Peace.